Japanese AI app features robot that can communicate like a “real girlfriend”

The Japanese smartphone application and artificial intelligence engine SELF, which features a highly-detailed female robot named Ai Furuse, has just added upgraded conversation functionality, promising, “communication close to that of a real girlfriend or partner.”

The application attempts to model natural human expressions using new animation techniques. The robot character, Ai, can react to different situations with various emotions and facial expressions. Her conversation library includes over 30,000 words, and she was designed to be able to carry on balanced conversations and assess the user’s situation.

Ai will remember past conversations and emotions and can identify shifts in the user’s goals and values. She will also gather information to match the user’s interests and will react to birthdays and other events. The app will record three days of interaction with Ai for free, but Ai will revert to the first meeting stage after that time unless users pay a cloud storage fee.